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SURFACING | VLADIVOSTOK; Extravagance at Russia's Edge

By ROBERT REID

Published: August 17, 2008

ANCHORING the far end of the 5,757-mile Trans-Siberian Railway, the Russian port city of Vladivostok did not exactly welcome visitors during the Soviet era. Despite its strategic position -- near the Russian border with China and North Korea -- Vladivostok occupied its own world during the cold war and was off limits to everyone, even Russians, since it was also home to the Russian Pacific Fleet.

But its ports have swung open in recent years, not just as a thriving trading post at the edge of Asia, but also as a surprisingly picturesque city of hillside mansions, scenic bays and, these days, extravagant night life fueled by the booming shipping and commercial fishing industries.

Numerous airlines now fly into Vladivostok. Low-cost carriers like S7 (www.s7.ru) have softened the distance from Moscow, while airlines like Vladivostok Air (www.vladivostokavia.ru) fly from regional hubs including Hanoi, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka. This summer even saw new flights from the United States, with service on Vladivostok Air from Anchorage, Alaska.

More change is on the way as the city prepares to host the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2012. About $6 billion in new hotels, highways, theaters and casinos have been proposed, although parts of Vladivostok already glitter.

Among the shiniest new spots is Okno (Batareynaya 3A; 7-4232-555-222; www.myspace.com/clubokno), a flashy Moscow-style nightclub that occupies the top floor of a new office complex on Sportivnaya Harbor. On a recent night, young professionals in designer halter tops and stilettos were lounging on gold Baroque-style armchairs, sipping vodka-and-Red Bulls and dancing to a cover of ''I Will Survive.'' Price of admission? A whopping 3,000 rubles, or about $125 at 24 rubles to the dollar.

''People come here to feel like they have the luxury life, even if they're spending their last ruble,'' said Okno's manager, Evgeni Park, 30, who was dressed in Prada and Gucci and who drives around the city's hilly streets in a 2005 Bentley Continental GT.

A similar aesthetic informs the city's dining scene, nouveau riche establishments that take the form of dacha-style microbreweries and 24-hour pizzeria lounges you're expected to dress up for.

The money crowd heads to the Syndicate (Komsomolskaya 11; 7-4232-469-460), a cavernous steakhouse that is set up like Al Capone-era Chicago, with homegrown blues bands and painted storefronts that look right out of ''The Untouchables.'' The menu includes a dish of grilled tiger prawns called Clan Soprano (550 rubles).

Also popular among the catwalk-ready crowd is Grand Caf?Morskoi Vokzal, 7-4232-302-722; www.grand-cafe.ru), a split-level nightclub atop the former Morskoi Vokzal, or maritime terminal, on Golden Horn Bay. By day, it's a quiet lunch spot to do business over salads and sandwiches; at night, boozy dance parties take over, spilling over to the large roof deck.

''Vladivostok used to have nothing,'' said Mr. Park, ''so now people want the best.''

PHOTO: Vladivostok, now a thriving, bustling port city with glittering nightclubs, was long closed to the West. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDY ADAMS/POLARIS)
MAP: Vladivostok, Russia

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